The rainbowfishes of the family Melanotaeniidae represent one of the largest radiations of freshwater fishes from the Indo-Australian archipelago. A total of 75 nominal species have been described, among which several have become very popular among tropical fish hobbyists because of their tendency to form large schools of colourful individuals. Facing habitat loss and competition or predation by introduced species, this group has become a priority in the conservation of ornamental fishes in Indonesia. In this context, several expeditions have been conducted between 2007 and 2010 in Indonesian Papua with the aim to initiate a large-scale survey of the genetic resources in this group. We assessed the diversity of the Papua rainbowfishes with DNA barcoding. We sequenced the mitochondrial COI gene for 350 specimens belonging to 53 nominal species throughout the Indo-Australian archipelago. Unexpected levels of cryptic diversity and endemism were detected since additional cryptic lineages were detected in several watersheds from the Vogelkop and the Lengguru massif. DNA barcoding supports the presence of nearly 30 evolutionary lineages among the 15 nominal species sampled in the Vogelkop and all these lineages are endemic to a single lake or watershed. This result highlights that the diversity of the family has been largely underestimated and urges for the identification of conservation priorities in Papua.

Catfishes of the genus Clarias are an important component of the ichthyofauna in Asia and in Africa. Previous studies demonstrated a high diversity in number of species, morphology and habitat, but little was known on the evolutionary processes underlying this diversity. We analysed an original data set of molecular sequences (cytochrome b and 16S genes), habitat and geographic distributions, as well as 29 morphometric measurements taken on 454 specimens of Asian Clarias. Maximum likelihood phylogeny estimation showed an unexpected cryptic diversity due to strong morphological convergence. The patterns of intra-and interspecific phylogenetic divergence are overall explained by geographic isolation. The analysis of habitat transitions with Markovian models showed that Asian Clarias evolved from an ancestor probably living in clear waters. The most frequent transitions occurred between clear and white waters, whereas transitions towards black waters occurred only from clear waters and were rare events. The morphometric analysis suggests a complex pattern of morphological evolution with repeated convergence towards an elongated form in black waters. The phylogeographic patterns of diversification of Asian Clarias agree with previous studies on other groups and the hypothesis that changes in sea level during the Pleistocene had little influence on shaping biodiversity on the Sunda Shelf.

-The clown loach Chromobotia macracanthus, endemic to Indonesia, is a major species on the international market of ornamental freshwater fish. In order to satisfy an increasing demand with a sustainable alternative to the massive capture of wild juveniles, research has been dedicated to the artificial propagation and domestication of this species. The present study, the first of a series, focused on favourable maintenance conditions for broodfish sexual maturation, criteria for identification of ripe fish, efficiency of hormone-induced breeding treatments, predictability of their latency response, and on the comparison of reproductive performances of fish from populations of Sumatra and Borneo Islands (in total, 112 females of 46 to 404 g body weight). When reared in fully controlled conditions in large water recirculation systems, broodfish originating from Sumatra had reproductive performances similar to or slightly higher than those maturing in the wild (ovulation rate of 93% vs. 82%, relative fecundity of 109 277 vs. 103 550 ova kg −1 and fertilization rate of 73% vs. 61%, respectively). In the same rearing conditions, captive females from Borneo (n = 22) showed lower ovulation rate (77%), relative fecundity (76 262 ova kg −1 ) and fertilization rate (50%) than those originating from Sumatra (n = 28). By contrast, the mean individual weight of ova (around 0.8 mg) was independent from the origin or maintenance conditions of females. An initial modal follicle diameter ≥1.02 mm generally led to high ovulation success (>80%) after hormonal treatment and is recommended as the main criterion for selecting female broodfish. Two hormonal treatments for inducing oocyte maturation and ovulation (T1: two successive injections of Ovaprim at a 6 h-interval; T2: one injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-and one of Ovaprim 24 h later), produced similar results in terms of ovulation rate, quantity and quality of ova collected. With both treatments, the latency decreased with increasing water temperature, then increased again at temperatures >28−29 • C. To our knowledge, such U-shaped relationship between the latency response and temperature has never been documented in teleost fishes.

Sumber Brantas Watershed is one out of five sub catchments of the Upper Brantas River, situated in Batu District, East Java, Indonesia and covering an area about 174 km 2. Recently, the hydrology of the watershed was considered to be degraded in terms of the quality and quantity of water yield. Fast floods were more often during the rainy seasons, while droughts were more severe during the dry seasons. Much spring water dried out in the dry seasons and two-third of them dried out permanently in the last decade. The condition was often related to the rapid change of landuse in the watershed. The natural forest and agroforestry gardens were converted into rain fed agriculture. Analysis on land sat images from 1989 and 2002 showed that 3,702ha of natural forest and 1,153ha of agroforestry gardens has disappeared. Further analysis showed that the area of rain fed agriculture, settlements and shrubs were increasing during that period. This most likely related to the socio-economics conditions of local community as well as the variability of stakeholders" perception in best watershed management planning and practices. The Rapid Hydrological Appraisal (RHA) implementation at the Sumber Brantas Watershed aimed to test the methodology, which is claimed to be rapid and cheap, and to validate the GenRiver Model-an important component of the methodology, to learn the stakeholders" perceptions on the watershed management and to build an understanding among stakeholders in order to select the best watershed management practices. RHA itself is claimed as a rapid and cheap methodology that is important in the early steps of an environmental service activity. The method consists of three stages i.e. scooping, awareness and identifying partners. Scooping and identifying partners were reflected from Comparing the simulated discharge using the GenRiver model to the actual field measurement shows a poor relation. The measured discharge data collected by PJT 1 (Perum Jasa Tirta I) seems to have unexpected trends that cannot be explained well by the available supporting data such as rainfall data. However, the simulated discharge upon some landuse scenarios indicates some acceptable preferences compared to the actual field condition. In conclusion, the similarity of perception among stakeholders in the watershed will give chance to find the best management plan and practices in the near future. But there is still a problem to bring the stakeholders to sit together discussing their opinion, perception and hope on the future of the watershed. An appropriate system and mechanism of coordination and communication among stakeholders is certainly needed to build better understanding of the watershed. Environmental service mechanism can be potentially developed in Sumber Brantas watershed, since the early initiative has been explored and practiced by some stakeholders, such as Perum Jasa Tirta I.

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